title: Immunohistochemical demonstration of alpha-fetoprotein in small hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: We demonstrated immunohistochemical staining of a-fetoprotein (AFP) in small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fifty-six patients with HCC less than 2 cm in diameter were studied. Twenty-five HCCs (44.6%) were positive for AFP-staining. The positive rate of AFP-staining in HCC tissue was higher in the patients with serum AFP concentration above 20 ng/ml than that of the patients with below 20 ng/ml. AFP-staining was demonstrated on the rough endoplasmic reticulum of HCC cells by immuno-electron microscopy. AFP-staining of tissue specimens obtained by fine needle biopsy is useful in the histologic diagnosis of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Asahi-machi 67, Kurume-shi, Fukuoka, 830, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusaba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanikawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018870:Endoplasmic Reticulum, Rough / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000097:blood; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins